Star Trek: Starfleet Academy - First Steps
by James Greenwood
Summary: This is a brief introduction to the story of Alexandria Forbes, a first-year cadet who has just arrived at Starfleet Academy.


Alexandria Forbes pulled back the curtain and stared out of the skylight above her bed to stare at the stars, and smiled to herself. I'm going to be up there, soon. She had just been accepted to attend Starfleet Academy, and was feeling a mixture of both nerves and uncontrollable excitement that had caused her to be. on edge. over the course of the week since she had her official communiqué from the admissions officer.  
  
Forbes lay on her bed having thrown the cover on the floor, dreaming of piloting a starship, or dodging asteroids in a shuttlecraft, until finally she drifted off to sleep, face still upturned towards the stars.  
  
She was awoken the next morning by the bright beam of light pouring through the uncovered skylight above her head just after sunrise.  
  
Today's the day. She could barely stop her hands from shaking as she stuffed a few mementos in to her bag on top of the clothes she had packed the previous night. She took a look at the holoimage of her with her parents on holiday at Risa and smiled, before putting that in the bag with the rest of her belongings. Still in her nightdress, she trotted off to the bathroom to have a quick sonic shower before she got on the transport heading for Earth at the Guernica Outpost.  
  
'Are you up yet, Alex?' she heard her father shout up the stairs. She emerged from the shower encompassed in a towel, retorting, 'I've barely been able to sleep for the past week, did you really think I'd oversleep?' flashing an excited grin down the stairs to her dad from the landing as she went back into her bedroom.  
  
She emerged downstairs ten minutes later with her hair tied up in her usual ponytail. Alex's mother, Janice, ran over to her and gave her an enormous hug. Alex noticed she had tears in her eyes. Her dad, being the man that he was, remained in his seat eating his breakfast and simply winked at her, his eyes twinkling.  
  
'Do us proud, Alex' he said, rising from the breakfast table to give his daughter a farewell hug. 'And don't forget to write to us!' Janice said, quickly. 'You can count on it, mom. Look, my transport leaves at 11:15, I'll have to go.'  
  
She turned towards the door, before saying, 'I'll miss you, and you know I'll write. Don't worry about me, I'll be fine' she shot them another excited, if a little forced, grin before picking up her bag and walking through the door to head for the transporter station on the next block.  
  
When she re-materialised on the transporter pad of the Guernica system's Federation outpost, she found herself utterly ignored by everyone around her, with the exception of one equally lost-looking young man carrying a bag over his shoulder showing the Starfleet Academy insignia. He ran over to her, and said, 'Hey, are you Alexandria Forbes?' She merely nodded in reply. 'Nice to meet you, I'm Scott Yates' he said, extending a hand and offering a warm smile, 'we're the only people from Guernica attending the Academy this year, so I was asked to wait for you so we could get on the transport together.' 'Ah,' Forbes replied, returning the smile and shaking his hand, 'well, we don't want to be late. Lead the way?' Yates nodded, and motioned with his hand to the left of them before setting off at a slow stroll to the docking gate.  
  
-  
  
Forbes stood in her brand new uniform at rigid attention in the centre court in front of Starfleet Academy, surrounded by around fifty of her peers. She was standing next to Yates, whom she met on the way to Earth, and a Vulcan whom she hadn't yet met. She, along with all of her other cadets, were facing a row of Starfleet Officers who stood at ease, chatting softly amongst themselves. One of the row, a man in his early thirties wearing a science uniform and lieutenant's pips nodded his head to his right, alerting the man currently immersed in conversation with him of the presence of the Starfleet Commandant.  
  
The Bolian man was walking briskly to where the cadets were standing. He smiled at his colleagues, before addressing the cadets, 'Good morning, cadets. I am Commandant Varo, and I welcome you to Starfleet Academy. During your stay here, you will learn a great deal about life aboard a starship or Starbase, and these' he broke off to motion to the officers standing in front of the cadets, 'are the people who will teach you those things. In a moment, they will do a roll call. If they call your name, follow them to receive further instructions on your courses and accommodation arrangements. I bid you all good luck in your chosen subjects, and hope to see the very best from all of you.' He gave a quick nod, signalling the end of his speech, and he turned back towards the Academy main building and disappeared from sight. 


End file.
